Patent Application
20190352879
Many electrical transmission utility companies utilize guyed lattice tower assets supported by a tripod beam that bears on steel piles (e.g., helical piles), such as 3″ small diameter steel pipe piles or 8″ large diameter steel pipe piles. These towers are often located in remote wetlands or tidal areas that have fluctuations in the tidal water surface elevation that can lead to accelerated corrosion of the tripod support beam, as well as brackets and adapters positioned at the interfaces between the bottom of the tripod support beam and the top of the support piles. When the tower foundation is in a severe state of deterioration, traditionally a utility's best option was to replace the tower, which is costly and may cause significant environmental disruption to the environmentally sensitive areas in which many such towers are located. The many challenges associated with replacement of such towers, such as environmental access, environmental preservation, critical service requirements, and budgetary issues can make tower replacement a very impractical solution. Therefore, a low impact, moderate cost solution that enables the repair of a tower tripod beam, bracket, and/or adapter without the need to replace the tower would provide economic and environmental benefits. In some cases, a tripod beam of a guyed lattice tower may be so severely deteriorated that it may not be practical to reinforce the structure of the tripod beam, but instead it may be necessary to replace the tripod beam entirely. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus that may allow for the replacement of the tripod beam, as well as the associated brackets and adapters, without moving the tower or removing the tower from service.
Some or all of the above deficiencies may be addressed by certain embodiments of the disclosed technology. For example, embodiments of a temporary support structure (“TSS”) as described herein may enable the replacement of the tripod beam, as well as the associated brackets and adapters, without moving the transmission tower or removing the tower from service. The TSS may also enable comprehensive pile repair, such as removing and replacing sections of piles, while the tower load path has been transferred to the TSS. The TSS may be capable of supporting the entire load of a tower, as well as lifting the entire tower.
In general, a TSS may allow a guyed lattice mast tower to be temporarily supported (and raised, if required) independent of the existing foundation piles so that the tripod beam, the brackets, and/or pile adapters of the tower can be replaced, and the upper portions of the piles can be restored. In some embodiments, the TSS may include a pile temporary support system (PTSS) that is a bracket system that allows piles to be driven with diagonal cross bracing attached. The PTSS may allow temporary supports to transfer tower loads to an independent pile system.
According to some embodiments, a TSS may utilize a PTSS to support the temporary support bearing frame of the TSS. A PTSS may have temporary piles that have upper and lower brackets for supporting bracing. For example, the lower bracket of a temporary pile may have a brace attached to the bracket and then the lower bracket of the temporary pile may be driven into an inaccessible location (e.g., below the water line of a swamp) as the pile is driven into the ground, however it may be positioned in such a fashion that the brace extends diagonally upwards out of the inaccessible location (e.g., the brace extends out of the water line at a diagonal angle). At a later point, the cross bracing may be attached to adjacent temporary piles such that bracing attached to a lower bracket on one temporary pile may be attached to an upper bracket of an adjacent pile. After the temporary piles are installed into the ground with the appropriate bracing attached, pile caps may be installed on top of the temporary piles to support the temporary support bearing frame of the TSS. In some embodiments, the pile caps may have bolt holes that align with bolt holes or attachment slots in the bottom of a bearing beam that is attached to the top of the pile cap. Temporary support bearing beams may then be installed on top of the pile caps. In some embodiments, the temporary support bearing beams may form a triangle with three sides, wherein each side is positioned to be approximately perpendicular to a corresponding arm of the existing tripod beam, as shown below. A transfer beam may be installed on top of each pair of adjacent temporary support bearing beams as shown below. In some embodiments, an under-hung temporary tripod beam may be installed under the existing tripod beam to provide additional support if the existing tripod beam is so degraded that it may not support the flower pot adapter and beams. A flowerpot adapter may be installed above the existing tripod beam to transfer the load of the tower to the TSS. The flowerpot adapter may be held by, for example, three jack supports, where each jack support is positioned to rest on top of a corresponding transfer beam as shown below. Once the load of the tower is transferred to the TSS, the existing tripod, brackets, and pile adapters may freely be replaced.
According to an example embodiment, a temporary support structure is provided. The temporary support structure may include a pile temporary support system including a plurality of piles. Each of the plurality of piles may have a base portion that may be configured to be installed into the ground and a pile cap on a top end of the pile. The temporary support structure may include a beam support structure configured to be installed on top of and supported by the pile temporary support system. The beam support structure may include at least a first plurality of support beams. The temporary support structure may also include a flower pot adapter lifting assembly configured to attach to a portion of a transmission tower and to be installed on top of the beam support structure to transfer a load of the transmission tower to the beam support structure and onto the pile temporary support system.
According to an example embodiment, a method of removing the load from a tripod of a transmission tower is provided. The method may include assembling a pile temporary support system including a plurality of piles around a base of a transmission tower. Each of the plurality of piles may have a base portion installed into the ground and may have a pile cap on a top end of the pile. The method may include assembling a beam support structure on top of the pile temporary support system such that the pile temporary support system supports the beam support structure. The beam support structure may include at least a first plurality of support beams. The method may include positioning a flower pot adapter lifting assembly on top of the beam support structure such that the beam support structure supports the flower pot adapter lifting assembly (i.e., the load of the flower pot adapter lifting assembly may be transferred to the beam support structure). The method may further include attaching the flower pot adapter lifting assembly to a flower pot of the transmission tower. The flower pot may be positioned above the tripod (i.e., the existing tripod beam) and may be configured to hold the guyed lattice mast of the transmission tower. Following the execution of these steps, the load of the transmission tower may be transferred from the transmission tower to the flower pot adapter lifting assembly, from the flower pot adapter lifting assembly to the beam support structure (e.g., from the flower pot adapter lifting assembly to transfer beam assembly and from the transfer beam assembly to the bearing beam assembly), and from the beam support structure to the pile temporary support system.
Other embodiments, features, and aspects of the disclosed technology are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosed technology. Other embodiments, features, and aspects can be understood with reference to the following detailed description, accompanying drawings, and claims.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying figures and flow diagrams, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Embodiments of the disclosed technology include a temporary support structure and methods that can be used to repair a transmission tower and, in particular, may be used to replace a degraded tripod installed in the transmission tower without requiring removal of the tower from service or replacement of the tower itself. Embodiments of the disclosed technology include a temporary support structure having an underhung tripod assembly to allow replacement of a tripod that is not capable of supporting the flower pot adapter and screw back beams during the assembly of the temporary support structure, as described herein. Embodiments of the disclosed technology further include a temporary small pile strut assembly to stiffen small piles used to support the currently installed tripod during the process of removing said tripod. Further, although this disclosure is generally directed towards describing the repair or strengthening of transmission towers having a three-sided flower pot, it should be understood that the temporary support structure described herein may be used to repair a wide variety of other types of structures, towers, poles, or the like, including transmission towers have a four-sided flower pot (or any other number of sides) by modifying the flower pot adapter lifting assembly described herein to allow it to securely attach to the outer surface of a portion of said other type of structure, thereby allowing the load of the structure to be supported by the temporary support structure and providing the opportunity to replace parts of the structure from which the load has been temporarily removed.
According to certain embodiments, a temporary support structure according to the embodiments disclosed herein may be used temporarily to remove the load of a transmission tower from an installed tripod and place the load on the temporary support structure to allow removal and replacement of the installed tripod. Embodiments of the temporary support structure described herein may be used in conjunction with transmission towers having a large pile configuration and/or transmission towers having a small pile configuration. In addition to allowing removal and replacement of the installed tripod, other repairs may be made to the tower during installation, such as for example, trimming of corroded portions of piles and replacement of decaying pile adapters and/or pile brackets. According to some embodiments, the temporary support structure may securely support the load of the transmission tower about the flower pot of the tower. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a flower pot may be a container that is configured to securely hold the legs of the transmission tower. Once a tripod has been removed and a new tripod has been attached to the piles and/or pile adapter/brackets, the flower pot that is being held up by the temporary support structure may be lowered into and received by a flower pot adapter positioned on top of the new tripod, such that the load of the tower may be transferred from the temporary support structure to the newly installed tripod. The flower pot may be lowered by, for example, turning threaded screws of a plurality of screw jacks coupled with the flower pot to lower the flower pot. Once the flower pot has been secured to the flower pot adapter of the new tripod, the temporary support structure may be deconstructed and removed.
Some embodiments of the disclosed technology will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosed technology may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth therein.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is to be understood that embodiments of the disclosed technology may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description. References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “certain embodiments,” “various embodiments,” etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) of the disclosed technology so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in one embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may.
Throughout the specification and the claims, the following terms take at least the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or.” Further, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean one or more unless specified otherwise or clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.
Unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal adjectives “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.
Various systems and methods are disclosed for removing the load of a transmission tower from an installed tripod to allow for replacement of the tripod, and will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures.
As described herein, embodiments of the disclosed technology include temporary support structures for supporting the load of a transmission tower to allow for removal and replacement of a degraded tripod. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the base of a transmission tower may be commonly supported by a tripod having a plurality of arms (e.g., three arms) that are supported by piles that have been installed in the ground. For example,
According to some embodiments, a transmission tower base 100 may include one-piece pile adapters 112 and brackets 114 that are positioned between the tops of the large piles 110 and the bottoms of each tripod arm 103a,b,c. The pile adapters 112 and brackets 114 may serve to create a transition connection between the respective piles 110 and the tripod 102. During the original installation, the piles 110 may be positioned or field trimmed such that the brackets 114 may be positioned at an approximately equal height so that the tripod 102 may be positioned approximately parallel to the ground in order to provide a flat base to serve as support for the transmission tower. A bracket 114 that is mated with a pile adapter 112 may be secured to the bottom of a tripod arm 103 by being bolted, screwed, fastened, or otherwise secured together. Transmission tower legs 130 may be received by a receiving member designed to securely receive and stabilize the transmission tower legs 130, such as a flower pot 120. The flower pot 120 may be positioned in and/or secured to a flower pot socket 122 that is positioned on top of the tripod 102 and is configured to securely receive the base of the flower pot 120. According to some embodiments, the flower pot socket 122 can be secured (e.g., bolted, screwed, fastened, etc.) to the top of the tripod 102.
As shown in
According to some embodiments, a temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 may attach to a temporary pile 502 to provide an attachment point for cross-bracing between temporary piles 502. For example, in some embodiments, a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 may attach to a temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 at each end to provide cross-bracing between the two temporary piles 502. According to some embodiments, a temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 may enable a temporary pile 502 to be installed and/or freely rotated with lower bracing connections attached. In some embodiments, a temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 may include a pile bracing bracket 512 and pile bracing bracket U-bolts 514. As shown in
According to some embodiments, a tab 513 may be a plate or a pair of plates separated by a space configured to receive the end of a cross-bracing member, that extends away from the body of the pile bracing bracket 512. The tab 513 may include one or more apertures for receiving a securing member, such a bolt, a screw, fastener, or the like, and may attach to the end of a cross-bracing member by, for example, inserting a bolt through the aperture(s) of the tab 513 and through one or more corresponding apertures of the cross-bracing member and securing the securing member with a nut or the like. According to some embodiments, the end of a cross-bracing member, such as the end of a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 may be attached to the pile bracing bracket 512 (e.g., via the tab 513) such that the cross-bracing member may rotate about the pile bracing bracket 512. For example, if the cross-bracing member is secured by a bolt through the tab 513 as described above, then the cross-bracing member may be free to rotate about the bolt as a hinge, such that the opposing end of the cross-bracing member may be raised or lowered to different heights of an opposing temporary pile 502. This free rotation of the cross-bracing member may allow an attached cross-bracing member to be folded up prior to drilling or driving the temporary pile 502 into the ground. Thus, in some embodiments, a temporary pile 502 may be driven into the ground while a cross-bracing member is attached. This is advantageous because a temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 attached to a lower portion of a temporary pile 502 may be inaccessible for attachment of a temporary cross brace when the temporary pile 502 is driven into the ground. Thus, attachment of the cross-bracing member to the pile bracing bracket 512 with the temporary pile shear sleeves 515 installed above and below pile bracing bracket 512 prior to driving the temporary pile 502 into the ground may allow the attached cross-bracing member to be subsequently rotated into position with the pile bracing bracket 512 restrained from translating along the temporary pile 502 by the temporary pile shear sleeves 515 as the temporary pile 502, pile bracing bracket 512 and the upward folded cross bracing member are driven into their final position. Once the pile is driven, the cross brace (e.g., temporary adjustable brace assembly 530) may be folded down to be attached to another temporary pile 502, whereas a technician may otherwise be unable to access and attach the cross-bracing member after the temporary pile 502 has been driven into the ground absent the presence of the temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a lower temporary pile bracing bracket assembly of one or more temporary piles 502 may have one or more cross-bracing members attached prior to the one or more temporary piles 502 being driving into the ground. According to some embodiments, the attached cross-bracing members may then be attached to an upper temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 of an adjacent temporary pile 502 following insertion of the temporary piles 502 into the ground. In some embodiments, the attached cross-bracing members may be attached to an upper temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 of an adjacent temporary pile 502 following the installation of the beam support structure 320. According to some embodiments, pile bracing bracket 512 may be configured to allow attachment of additional tabs 513 to support the attachment of additional cross-bracing members.
As described above, in some embodiments, each temporary pile 502 may have an upper temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 installed on an upper portion of the temporary pile 502 and a lower temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 installed on a lower portion of the temporary pile 502. A pile bracing bracket 512 may permit rotation of a temporary pile 502 during installation with lower bracing connections (i.e., a pile bracing bracket 512 attached to a lower portion of the temporary pile 502) attached. In some embodiments, pile bracing bracket U-bolts 514 may transversely engage a temporary pile 502 and may be inserted through apertures on either side of a pile bracing bracket 512, as shown in
According to some embodiments, temporary pile shear sleeves 515 may be attached to a temporary pile 502 above and/or below the pile bracing bracket 512 to prevent linear movement of the pile bracing bracket 512 along the temporary pile 502 without restricting the temporary pile's 502 ability to rotate within the pile bracing bracket 512. According to some embodiments, the temporary pile shear sleeves 515may be installed on a temporary pile 502 using a through-bolt installed through the temporary pile shear sleeve 515 and the temporary pile 502. Temporary pile shear sleeves 515 may also prevent pile bracing bracket 512 from binding as the temporary pile 502 is screwed into the correct elevation or removed following repairs.
According to some embodiments, a pair of temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assemblies 510 may be attached to the ends of a cross-bracing member, such as a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530. In some embodiments, a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 may be adjustable in length to account for actual field installed conditions. For example, a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 may be adjusted to be longer or shorter in length in order to be positioned snuggly between a pair of temporary piles 502 as shown in
According to some embodiments, each of the temporary piles 502 may have a temporary pile cap 540 mounted on the top end. For example, a temporary pile cap 540 may slide onto and bear on the temporary pile 502. In some embodiments, a temporary pile cap 540 may be bolted to the bearing frame beam assembly 550 to provide a load path from the bearing frame beam assembly 550 to the temporary pile 502 and to prevent lateral translation of the bearing frame beam assembly 550 relative to the to the temporary pile 502. According to some embodiments, a temporary pile cap 540 may be through-bolted to the temporary pile 502.
In some embodiments, as shown in
As shown in
As mentioned previously above, the temporary support structure 300 may be used in conjunction with a transmission tower 200 supported by small piles 204. In such cases, the small piles 204 may require stabilization during the process of removing and replacing the tripod 102.
According to some embodiments, a tripod 102 of a transmission tower 100 may be so degraded that it may be determined by a technician that the tripod 102 cannot support the additional load of the flower pot adapter 920 and/or flower pot adapter beams 930 added to the flower pot 120 during assembly of the temporary support structure 300. In such cases, additional support may be added to the degraded tripod 102 using an underhung tripod assembly 700, as shown in
According to some embodiments, a screw jack lifting beam assembly 940 may include a screw jack lifting beam 942 and a screw and cap assembly 944. The screw jack lifting beam 942 may be configured to slide onto and directly engage the top flange of a flower pot adapter beam 930. According to some embodiments, bolts may be inserted through apertures in the bottom flange of the screw jack lifting beam assembly, apertures of the flower pot adapter beam braces 934 and apertures in the top flange of flower pot adapter beam 930 for retention of the screw jack lifting beam assembly 940 relative to the flower pot adapter beam 930. The screw jack lifting beam 942 may work in conjunction with the screw and cap assembly 944 to carry all of the load at the end of the flower pot adapter beam 930. According to some embodiments, the screw and cap assembly 944 may include a rod having a threaded screw portion (e.g., an Acme threaded screw) on one end and a ball bearing swivel cap on the other end. In some embodiments, the screw and cap assembly 944 may be premanufactured. The threaded screw portion may be configured to be rotatably received by a threaded shoulder nut (e.g., an Acme threaded shoulder nut) of the screw jack lifting beam 942. When the temporary support structure 300 is fully assembled, the ball bearing swivel cap may be positioned on top of a transfer beam 560 such that that load of the tower 100 may be transferred through a plurality of screw jack lifting beam assemblies 940 and into a corresponding plurality of transfer beams 560. According to some embodiments, the height of a screw jack lifting beam 942 may be raised by rotating the screw and cap assembly 944 in opposing directions. Thus, in some embodiments, once the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 is installed on top of the transfer beams 560 and in connection to the flower pot 120, the height of the transmission tower 100 may be raised or lowered in accordance with the raising and lowering of the plurality of screw jack lifting beam assemblies 940. In this way, the temporary support structure 300 may be configured to raise the tower to provide room to remove the degraded tripod 102 and lower the tower onto a newly installed tripod 102 following such installation.
According to some embodiments, assembling the pile temporary support system 300 may include attaching a first temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 to a first pile 502 of the plurality of piles 502, attaching a second temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 to a second pile of the plurality of piles 502, and attaching a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 between the first temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 and the second temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510. As previously described above, attachment of a lower temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 to a pile 502 and attachment of an end of a temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 to the lower temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 may occur prior to driving a lower portion of the pile 502 into the ground, as such lower portion may be inaccessible following the insertion of the lower portion of the pile 502 into the ground. Further, in some embodiments, attachment of the other end of the temporary adjustable brace assembly 530 to a temporary adjustable pile bracing bracket assembly 510 attached to an adjacent pile 502 may occur at a later time, such as following the installation of one or more bearing frame beams 552 and/or transfer beams 560. While the preceding describes the installation of two temporary piles 502 and the installation of cross bracing between them, it should be understood that the method contemplates installation of three temporary piles with the cross bracing attached between each pair of adjacent temporary piles 502 in a manner similar to that as described above to form a triangular configuration. In other words, each of the three temporary piles 502 may have a lower pile bracing bracket 512 attached to the pile 502 and two temporary adjustable brace assemblies 530 are attached to each lower pile bracing bracket 512 before the brace assemblies are folded up and the temporary piles 502 (with attached brace assemblies) are driven into the ground. Once the temporary piles 502 are installed in the ground, the temporary adjustable brace assemblies 530 may be folded down and may be attached to an upper pile bracing brackets 512 of a neighboring temporary 502, thereby creating an “X” cross brace between each pair of the temporary piles 502.
At 1020, the method can include assembling a beam support structure (e.g., beam support structure 320) on top of the pile temporary support system 310 such that the pile temporary support system 310 supports the beam support structure. In some embodiments, the beam support structure may include at least a first plurality of support beams, such as bearing frame beams 552 that may be assembled together to form a bearing frame beam assembly 550 as described previously above. For example, in some embodiments, these support beams may be attached to one another and to the temporary pile caps 540 as described previously above.
According to some embodiments, assembling the beam support structure may include, for each pair of adjacent piles 502 of the plurality of piles 502, placing a respective beam of the first plurality of support beams on top of the pile caps 540 of each of the piles 502 of the pair of adjacent piles 502 such that the first plurality of support beams form a substantially enclosed shape around the transmission tower 100 and securing each end of each respective beam of the first plurality of support beams to the pile caps 540 of the respective pair of adjacent piles 502. According to some embodiments, assembling the beam support structure may further include, for each pair of adjacent beams of the first plurality of support beams, placing a respective beam of a second plurality of support beams (e.g., transfers beams 560) on top of a portion of each of the respective pair of adjacent beams such that, according to some embodiments, the ends of each of the second plurality of beams may be positioned proximate to an adjacent beam of the second plurality of support beams. As shown in
At 1030, the method can include positioning a flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 on top of the beam support structure such that the beam support structure supports the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330. For example, a flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 may be positioned on top of a beam support structure 320 as described previously above.
According to some embodiments, positioning a flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 on top of the beam support structure may include positioning a plurality of screw jack lifting beam assemblies 940 on top of the second plurality of support beams (e.g., transfer beams 560) such that a height-adjustable threaded screw of each of a plurality of screw jacks 940 is positioned on top of an upper surface of a respective beam of the second plurality of support beams.
At 1040, the method can include attaching the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 to a flower pot 120 of the transmission tower 100. In some embodiments, the flower pot 120 may be positioned of above the tripod 102 and may be configured to hold one of more legs 130 of the transmission tower 100 or the guyed lattice mast of the transmission tower. In some embodiments, in response to the installation of the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 on top of the beam support structure and in connection with the flower pot 120, the load of the transmission tower 100 may be transferred from the transmission tower 100 to the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330, from the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 to the beam support structure, and from the beam support structure (e.g., beam support structure 320) to the pile temporary support system 310. In other words, when installed (i.e., when attached to the flower pot 120 and positioned on top of the beam support structure), the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 may create a load path from the transmission tower 100 to the temporary support system 300, bypassing the existing tripod 102 and enabling the transmission tower 100 to be raised and lowered to replace the tripod 102 and/or other degraded portions of the tower foundation. It should be understood that in some embodiments and as previously described above, attachment of a portion of the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 (e.g., flower pot adapters 920) to the flower pot 120 may occur prior to positioning the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 on top of the beam support structure.
According to some embodiments, attaching the flower pot adapter lifting assembly 330 to the flower pot 120 of the transmission tower 100 may include attaching a plurality of flower pot adapters 920 to external surfaces of the flower pot 120 such that the flower pot 120 is substantially surrounded by the plurality of flower pot adapters 920. In some embodiments, following the attachment of the plurality of flower pot adapters 920 to the flower pot 120, each of a plurality of screw jacks 940 may be attached to a respective flower pot adapter 920 (e.g., via a respective flower pot adapter beam 930).
According to some embodiments, the method may further include removing the tripod 102 and installing a new tripod 102. For example, removing the tripod 102 may include unbolting the tripod 102 from a flower pot socket 122 and/or one or more existing installed brackets 114 that are attached to existing pile adapters. In some embodiments, removing the existing tripod 102 may include cutting the existing tripod 102, the existing brackets 114 and/or the existing pile adapters 112 out of tower 100 and/or large piles 110. In some embodiments, installing a new tripod 102 can include installing a new pile adapter 112 to each pile 110 of a plurality of large piles 110, installing a new pile bracket 114 on each new pile adapter 112 (e.g., via mating the two pieces together), attaching tripod arms 103 of the new tripod 102 to the new pile brackets 114 (e.g., via securing members through aligned apertures of a pile bracket 114 and bottom plate 108 of a tripod arm 103), attaching a flower pot socket 122 to a top surface of the new tripod 102, and lowering, by manipulation of the height-adjustable threaded screw of each of the plurality of screw jacks 940, the flower pot 120 into the flower pot socket 122. The new tripod 102 and/or flower pot socket 122 may then be attached to the flower pot 120 by, for example, bolting, screwing or fastening them together (e.g., via aligned apertures in each). Following installation of the new tripod 102, the temporary support structure 300 may be deconstructed.
It will be understood that the various steps of any of the methods described herein are illustrative only, and that steps may be removed, other steps may be used, or the order of steps may be modified.
Certain embodiments of the disclosed technology are described above with reference to flow diagrams of systems and methods according to example embodiments of the disclosed technology. It will be understood that some blocks of the flow diagrams may not necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, or may not necessarily need to be performed at all, according to some embodiments of the disclosed technology.
While certain embodiments of the disclosed technology have been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosed technology is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
This written description uses examples to disclose certain embodiments of the disclosed technology, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice certain embodiments of the disclosed technology, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of certain embodiments of the disclosed technology is defined in the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/994,399, filed 31 May 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/512,944, 62/513,014, 62/513,072, and 62/513,097, all filed 31 May 2017, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth below.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62512944 | May 2017 | US | |
| 62513014 | May 2017 | US | |
| 62513072 | May 2017 | US | |
| 62513097 | May 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15994399 | May 2018 | US |
| Child | 16528418 | US |
